There was a time when the audience would flock to the theatres just to watch their favourite stars. But the failure of films like Tubelight and Jab Harry Met Sejal has taught us that no star is bigger than the film and the audience will only watch a film that’s high on content! 

Newton, starring Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra and Raghubir Yadav, is India’s official entry to the Oscars and it proves that it’s not the so-called ‘stars’ that make a film work but the story, actors and the director instead!

The announcement was made by Rajkummar Rao on his Twitter handle:

Directed by Amit Masurkar, the film has released in India today and so far, the critics have been appreciating this political satire.

Amit said, “It’s a great honour for us to represent India at the Oscars. We hope this film will bring attention to the need to strengthen democracy in our country. The film is in theatres at the moment and this announcement will help us reach out to a larger audience.”

The film is set in a Maoist area in Chhattisgarh where Newton Kumar (Rao) is sent to conduct elections and the population consists of only 76 eligible voters.

Manish Mundra, founder of Drishyam Films and producer of Newton said, “This is the most incredible news of our lives — all of our hard work and faith is finally paying off. Newton is a very important film and we cannot thank the Film Federation of India jury enough for recognising and appreciating our efforts. There is truly no greater honour than representing our country at the global stage.”

He added, “And for the news to be announced on the day of Newton’s theatrical release across India — the stars are truly aligning for us. The critics have spoken, and now we cannot wait for our Indian audiences to go watch the film in the theatres.” 

Newton was selected out of 26 films that were presented to the selection committee of the Film Federation of India and the film was chosen unanimously. 

Here’s wishing good luck to Team Newton!